Vehicle-wheel.



H. CLIFFORD.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 20, 1907.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

THE NDRRIS F TERS c UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE. HERBERT CLIFFORD, OFNEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO RALPH CLIFFORD, OF MONSON,MASSACHUSETTS.

VEHICLE-WI-IEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 15, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT CLIFFORD, a cltizen of the United States,residing at New London, in the county of New London'and State ofConnecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement inVehicle-Wheels; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in

Figure 1 a side view of a wheel constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 a broken sectional view showing the spring slotted toclear the felly. Fig. 3 a broken sectional view showing the spring cutaway at one side to clear the folly. Fig. 4 a broken sectional Viewshowing the end of the spring oflset for connection with the folly. Fig.5 a broken plan view of one end of the spring showing its end bent at aright an le to the spring for engagement with the fol y. Fig. 6 a brokenplan view of the portion of the spring forming the bend. Fig. 7 asectional view through one of the spring-retaining brackets.

This invention relates to an improvement in vehicle wheels, and whileespecially adapted for wheels in which the rim is made up of convolutesprings, the ends of the springs being bent and connected with the fe1y, is applicable to wheels having springs between the rim and folly,the object of the invention being to construct a wheel which may havepower of absorbing motion due to running over uneven places in the road,and in which the rigidity of the wheel may be adjusted; and theinvention oonsistsin the construction hereinafter described andparticularly recited in the claims.

Preferably and as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the wheel consists ofa hub 2, spokes 3 and felly 4, and a rim formed from three strips ofspring metal 5, 6 and 7 these strips preferably overlapping each otherand formed with bands 8 which extend from the rim inward overlapping thefelly 4 to the face of which they are secured by clips 9 or otherwise.In my preferred form, the bent portions of these springs are wider thanthe width of the rim and felly and are slotted in the center to form aclearance for the felly; but instead of cutting out the central portionas shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, a portion of the spring at one sidemay be cut away as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings; or the springs maybe arranged at one side of the plane of the folly and formed with anoflset end 10 as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, and this end may beformed by bending the inner end 11 of the spring inward at a right angleto the main portion of the spring as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings; sothat it will be apparent that the form of the spring may be varied, itonly being essential that it shall extend inward beyond the folly so asto give a long bend and thus greater flexibility. With flexible springsas thus described, it will be desirable to provide brackets by which theflexibility of the spring may be adjusted; and for this purpose I formbrackets of two members 12 and 13 adapted to surround the folly and besecured outside the felly by bolts 14. These brackets are set inwardover the edge of the folly and have arms 15 which extend inward andflanges or fingers 16 which project outward and overlap the portion ofthe spring extending inside the folly. These fingers limit the inwardmovement of the sjprings, and to limit the outward movement form thearms 15 with perforations 17 through which a blot 18 passes, these boltshaving long heads 19 which extend beneath the springs 8 on one side andlong nuts 20 which are turned onto the ends of the bolt and standbeneath a portion of the spring on the opposite side of the felly, thehead and nut of the bolt holding the spring rigid with the felly. Thesebrackets can be moved on the telly toward or from the clips 9 so as toadjust the flexibility of the springs.

I claim 1. A vehicle wheel comprising a hub, spokes and folly, and a rimformed from convolute springs the ends of which are bent inward beyondsaid felly to which the ends of the springs are secured, substantiallyas described.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising a hub, spokes and felly, a rim, springsextending from said rim beyond said-folly to which the ends of thesprings are attached, a portion of the springs cut away to clear thefolly.

3. A vehicle wheel comprising a hub, spokes and felly, a rim, springsextending from said rim beyond said ielly to which the ends of thesprings are attached, an opening in the spring to clear the felly.

4. A vehicle wheel comprising a hub, spokes and folly, a rim, springsextending from said rim inside of said telly, the ends of the springssecured thereto, and brackets connected with said felly and engagingsaid springs, substantially as described.

5. A vehicle wheel comprising a hub, spokes and telly, a rim, springsextending from said rim inside of said felly, the ends of the springssecured thereto, and brackets formed in two members adapted to surroundsaid felly and formed with arms, and fingers extending over saidsprings, substantially as described.

6. A vehicle wheel comprising a hub, spokes and felly, a rim, springsextending from said rim inside of said i'elly, the ends of 15 thesprings secured thereto, brackets formed in two members adapted tosurround said felly and formed with arms and fingers eX- tending oversaid springs, and bolts passed through said arms beneath said springs,sub- 20 HERBERT CLIF QRD. lVitnesses:

F. N. 811001: J. E. SHOOK.

